Kythnos Island Spitares (Big Houses)

The ruins of the Administration Building of the J.B. Serpieri Company on Kythnos Island, called Big or Amazing Houses

On Kythnos Island there are strong traces of the exploitation of mineral wealth that lasted on the island for 70 years. As on several other islands of the Cyclades, mining activity stopped when global correlations changed, the prices dropped and any mining activity on the island became unprofitable.

There are still some remnants of this past of Kythnos Island, which in my view should be officially declared as monuments to preserve historical memory, to be rescued and restored. In conjunction with a corresponding Museum or points of information for the public, they should directly join with the tour network of the island and of course be included among the tourist attractions.

Amidst the warehouses, the old houses of the miners, rusted machinery and tools and the loading platforms for the ore ships, you will find on Kythnos Island in the area of Lefkes the headquarters of Serpieris mining company which held the exploitation of the island, the so called Spitares. Imagine how big an impression these buildings gave to the inhabitants of the island as they dominated the bare hills above the bay of Lefkes and to name them Spitares (Big or Amazing Houses). The company's offices, the accounting department, the office of the Director and also the workshops that were housed in these buildings that have today been left to crumble, rather than to have become a Museum. But even so, they remain impressive on the bare landscape of Kythnos Island. Although it is assumed that Spitares is open to visitors through the network of paths on Kythnos Island. I had to jump several walls to be able to approach and to take photographs of them.